See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/352390700

SUBJECT DIDACTICS: RELEVANT ISSUES

Article  in  Problems of Education in the 21st Century · June 2021

DOI: 10.33225/pec/21.79.340

CITATIONS READS

2 207

1 author:

Milan Kubiatko
J. E. Purkyne University Faculty of Education
102 PUBLICATIONS   1,470 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

TPCK ICT View project

2nd International Congress on Gifted Youth and Sustainability of the Education (ICGYSE) 20-21 November 2021 View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Milan Kubiatko on 27 July 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 This is an open access article under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License

PROBLEMS
OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021

340
SUBJECT DIDACTICS: RELEVANT ISSUES
Milan Kubiatko
J. E. Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic
E-mail: mkubiatko@gmail.com

I would like to thank the editor of the journal for the space to write some words about
actual problems of subject didactic. I would like to ask all readers to remember, this is not a
classic scientific text, it is only short reflection for the actual situation in subject didactic as it is
perceived by the author of this text.
Current subject or disciplinary didactic is a dynamic discipline, which is still changing
and is reporting to actual trends in the relative disciplines like pedagogy, psychology, sociology,
philosophy, and others, and also the newest findings from the scientific disciplines, which
are connected with subject didactic. The didactic is perceived in different ways by different
countries. For example, in the Middle Europe and former post-communist countries it is
possible to observe subject didactic, where every subject, has got its own didactic (e.g., didactic
of biology, didactic of history, …). For Anglo-Saxon countries it is typical disciplinary didactic
(e.g., science didactic). It can cause a little bit problematic view, but the nature of concept is
similar. In this text it is used the term “subject didactic”.
Nowadays, many models of didactic exist in scientific world. It is one of the basic
models, which is presented in every theoretical didactic publication. Central to didactics is the
triangulation among the student, the teacher, and the content (Hillen & Landis, 2014). Hence,
it is called the didactic triangle (Figure 1). This is a basic concept on which nature is building
all didactic. However, many didacticians are working only in the boundaries of this model,
where the visible terms are determining. It is a work with scientific content, which is through
teacher transmitted to pupils/students. It can be realized through different methods, forms, and
approaches. Some are working better; some are working worse.

Figure 1
Didactic Triangle

Student

Interaction and Experiencing,

relationship interaction,
learning

Contents
Teacher
Selection and presentation by
the reflective teacher

Above the mentioned model (didactic triangle) there is not only one. In the scientific
world of didactic minimally 13 different models exist, which are divided into several models and
concepts. Some of them are more theoretical, some more practical, and some more scientific.
For the correct understanding of didactic as the scientific discipline, it is necessary to know

https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/21.79.340 ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)

Milan KUBIATKO. Subject didactics: Relevant issues
PROBLEMS
OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021

every of them. Some models are appropriate for teachers, some for researchers in this field of 341
study (Gascon & Nicolas, 2017; Londal & Greve, 2015; Perig, 2018). It is important to realize,
that subject or disciplinary didactic is a scientific discipline, so academicians and researchers
in this field of study should focus on every aspect of this scientific discipline, not to aim only
on the presentation of new teaching and learning material, but also to focus on the research
activity, where all parts of didactic will be respected. So, the better model for understanding of
subject didactic in general is in figure 2 according Entwistle (2003).

Figure 2
Model of Didactic (subject and disciplinary) (according Entwistle 2003)

In the model (figure 2), all needed subdisciplines are taken into account, which created
didactic as it is in core understanding (see above). It is needed to mention one thing regarding
to subject didactic. The didactic is a discipline, which has got unclear goals, where to aim in
research purposes, if basic or applied research. And it is possible to meet with opinions, that
didactic (general or subject) is a theoretical discipline. As every discipline, also any subject
didactic has got theoretical and research part, which are connected, and this process of classic
view of research creates new knowledge in the discipline. And the common cooperation of
theoretical and research part of didactic leads to practical application of new knowledge in
the learning process. This basic problem creates the row of the other problematic situations,
which are deforming situation in the field of subject didactic. One problem (especially in Czech
Republic and Slovakia) is lack of professionals in subject didactic. Many academicians in the
field of subject didactic are not didacticians, but only experts in the other subjects, who have not
got the possibility to work on their field of study, so they are in the function of the didactician.
For example, it is possible to see, that expert in nuclear physics works in the field of didactic

ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online) https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/21.79.340

 Milan KUBIATKO. Subject didactics: Relevant issues
PROBLEMS
OF EDUCATION
IN THE 21st CENTURY
Vol. 79, No. 3, 2021

342 of physics. So, if any person has not got any theoretical and empirical knowledge about the
subject, they cannot create adequate and required work environment, where all conditions will
be fulfilled for the professional function as a didactician. Other problem is in the mission of
subject didactic, many academicians in this field of study are focused on the preparation of
future teachers and work with curriculum. This activity creates a big gap in the formatting of
subject didactic as a scientific discipline, because the research level is missing and without
this, we cannot determine the effect of learning material, didactic methods, forms, approaches
on the pupils, if they have got permanent or ephemeral effect, if they have got the influence on
the motivation, values, attitudes, opinions on pupils and students. Without these things, it is
impossible to move subject didactic forward and some subjects will be still unpopular. Above
are described only some actual problems of subject didactic, many of other ones are possible to
find in the published articles (e.g., Ariza et al., 2016).
The problems described above are only the basic ones, the subject didactic in many
countries has to overcome a long way to be a scientific discipline without any misunderstandings
“what really subject didactic is”. We believe, that once subject didactic of any subject will be a
scientific discipline exempted from inauspicious influences.

References

Ariza, Y., Lorenzano, P., & Adúriz-Bravo, A. (2016). Meta-theoretical contributions to the
constitution of a model-based didactics of science.  Science & Education,  25(7), 747-773.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-016-9845-3
Entwistle, N. (2003). Concepts and conceptual frameworks underpinning the ETL project. Occasional
Report 3. Universities of Edinburgh: Coventry and Durham.
Gascón, J., & Nicolás, P. (2017). Can didactics say how to teach? The beginning of a dialogue between
the anthropological theory of the didactic and other approaches. For the Learning of Mathematics,
37(3), 9-13. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1162121
Hillen, S. A., & Landis, M. (2014). Two perspectives on e-learning design: A synopsis of a US and a
European analysis. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(4),
209-225. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v15i4.1783
Londal, K., & Greve, A. (2015). Didactic approaches to child-managed play: Analyses of teacher’s
interaction styles in kindergartens and after-school programmes in Norway. International Journal
of Early Childhood, 47(3), 461-479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-015-0142-0
Perig, A. V. (2018). Didactic student-friendly approaches to more effective teaching of the fundamentals
of scientific research in a digital era of scientometrics. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science
and Technology Education, 14(12), Article em1632. https://doi.org/10.29333 /ejmste/97188

Received: May 31, 2021 Accepted: June 06, 2021

Cite as: Kubiatko, M. (2021). Subject didactics: Relevant issues. Problems of Education in
the 21st Century, 79(3), 340-342. https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/21.79.340

Milan Kubiatko PhD, Assistant Professor at Department of Preschool and Primary Education,
Faculty of Education, J. E. Purkyne University, Pasteurova 1, 400 96 Usti nad
Labem, Czech Republic.
E-mail: mkubiatko@gmail.com
Website: http://www.kubiatko.eu
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4343-9609

https://doi.org/10.33225/pec/21.79.340 ISSN 1822-7864 (Print) ISSN 2538-7111 (Online)

View publication stats